The Value of One Single Life
by Ciotolik
Summary: Vietnam war is now over, but memories are still painfully alive.. and real men of honor can still reach out for eachother, because saving one life may mean saving themselves. Starsky & Hutch meet the A-Team in this story about friendship, gratitude and life. Multi-chapter- Now concluded.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: as per usual, I don't own these characters, even if sometimes I consider them to be friends.**

**SPECIAL THANKS to my dear Friend and amazing writer Michele: your help and support are a real gift!**

* * *

Hutch knelt down in the dust, his arms wrapped around a brown haired girl.

" It's gonna be alright sweetheart… it's all over now. Your mom is talking with my partner, now we'll join them, ok?" He repeated the words with a smoothing and reassuring voice that dissimulated the rage he felt in his rigid jaw in watching such a lovely flower that had almost been destroyed. He stood up slowly, feeling the soft weight of the 8-year-old girl hanging onto him.

Starsky was comforting Abby's young mother, after having asked her a few questions about what had just happened in her home. She looked so vulnerable in her plaid shirt, sitting on the wooden bench in front of her house. Her skinny shoulders were bent by the burden of too much worry and grief and, although she was clearly a beautiful woman, she seemed to be covered by a thick coat of pain that hid her as much as the dust did. Actually dust was all over… on her ponytail, inside the house, on the cars, in the air, under the teeth of everyone around; the large courtyard of the ranch looked like a post-war scenario.

Starsky bent down towards her and, while closing his small notebook and putting it in a pocket with one hand, he reached out with the other to gently touch the ruffled hair of the young woman, as if he could wipe the dust and sadness away.

She looked up to him with red and swollen eyes and simply said, "They saved our life, Officer. They saved our house, our small breeding farm… everything. Nobody could help us, Detective, not even _you."_ With a small nod Laura addressed her "_you_" to the police cars all around and the cops in uniform walking around in the area. There wasn't disdain in her voice, but a shadow of old resignation.

"_They_ were the only ones who could help us get rid of those people who wanted our land and our business… what could I have done but ask for help? After my husband's death, Bratt's sharks were all over me because they thought that a woman, all alone, couldn't handle such a business and defend it. They keep threatening us, they burnt the barn and I barely saved the horses inside! But police told us there was no evidence. They… they would have taken Abby…. The A-Team decided to help... they didn't even want money in return…" Laura tried to justify herself for hiring a group of outlaws to send to jail those jackals that were now being taken away, battered and handcuffed, in the police cars. But even more than that, she seemed desperate to plead for these "saviours."

"They are good men, men of honour, Officer," she cried, with a broken voice and an silent statement in her eyes, that caught Hutch's attention, while he was approaching with Abby in his arms; did she gracefully mean that maybe those men, full of badges and covered by police uniforms , didn't have as much honour? What she had said while he was easing the kid to the ground and watching her fly into her mother's arms caused a pang in Hutch's stomach. His stomach got a little bit tighter when he cast a glance to his partner and, instead of the usual familiar feedback, he saw that Starsky's eyes were far away and incomprehensible.

"He will be ok, ain't that true mommy?" Abby asked with her voice muffled against her mother's chest.

"Yes, honey," Laura answered quickly, as if she wanted to hide the question and immediately change the subject.

"There was so much blood mom…" the girl went on and there was no chance for Laura to elude the questioning eyes of both detectives.

"One of the guys…. He got shot," the young woman explained in a guilty and low voice, as if this detail could give away the people who helped her so much.

"Who, Laura? Who got shot?" Hutch insisted calmly but firmly.

"Murdock, the pilot… they're trying to take him to hospital… please please detectives, let them do it… please don't take advantage of this to get them caught… they were just helping me," she almost prayed.

"Now take it easy, lady, a doctor will visit you and your daughter and you'll be taken to the police department to give your version of the story. Don't worry about anything ok?"

While Laura was guided by a cop to the ambulance, Hutch watched Starsky with a concerned expression and stated: "She must be confused… I'm wondering if she knows whom she is talking about… Murdock… there is no Murdock in The A-Team…even on TV they have never talked about a pil…"

"She is right Hutch," Starsky interrupted in a blank voice "he's always been part of the team… I could have well imagined he still belonged with them."

"Starsk, what are you talking about?" Hutch was disoriented and a little scared of what was going on.

His partner turned away from the nothing he was staring into, and he looked into his friend's eyes.

"You know you are my pal, Hutch… you know I love you more than a brother, more than myself… you are family. But there are parts of my life that are buried in a place I can't even find anymore."

Hutch knew perfectly what his partner was talking about; he had never really been able to face the topic of his time in Vietnam and Hutch had never pushed him, not even when, during their first years in the Academy, after Starsky's return from that hell, Hutch saw him flinching for a slamming door if he was absent minded… not even when he listened to his friend's confused words during a tormented dream… not even when he saw his partner's blue eyes turning into black holes at the barest memory.

But now, Hutch knew he had to talk… there was work to be done.

"Buddy, if there is something else you know about this A-Team, you should tell Dobey. We are policemen, Starsk… we are the law… these people must be judged in a martial court… there is nothing more dangerous than a mixture of a commando and a vigilante… let alone a whole squad of them."

" I… I can't Hutch…"

"Buddy, I'm sorry to force you… but in this case you have to."

" You don't understand Hutch… I can't because they … I'm sure they are innocent."

Starsky was rarely so reserved, almost reticent, and Hutch wasn't sure of the way he should have handled it. Even after Terry's death, Starsky's silent pain was displayed his expressive eyes, so easy for Hutch to be read.

On the contrary, now he had the feeling he was walking on a minefield and if he stepped onto the wrong spot he could cause massive damage.

"Starsk, if you know they are innocent you should tell…"

"I don't know for sure…"

"Buddy, so we have to…"

"You don't understand…"

"So tell me…"

"They saved my life ok? They saved my butt in that freaking hell, risking their own to do it. I was nothing over there, Hutch. I was a name, a number. I was a gun running in the mud. Nobody gave a damn about my life… there was no Hutch to watch my back there…"

Here Starsky's voice trailed off a little and Hutch felt his gut turning into a knot, while he moved towards his friend without touching him, afraid of breaking the spell and stopping his words.

He couldn't help silently mouthing "Buddy…" as his partner opened his dark blue eyes in front of him, his Adam's apple bobbing frantically. Starsky added, "They didn't even know me, they saved my life just because it was right, because one single life meant something for them, even in that swamp where we weren't human beings anymore. They are that kind of men."

* * *

"You're gonna make it, bro…" bellowed BA, while he tried to moisten Murdock's mouth with a wet handkerchief.

" I..I'm really about to die i..if you're calling me 'bro,' BA," whispered the pilot with an attempt of a smile that cracked his dry lips.

"Shut up fool!" BA barked back. "You can't die! You are my friend!"

"Uhh , pal… the bird has been riddled with shots this time… N-No more tweet tweet… But it's fine BA, don't worry. The hunter has been caught and that's good enough."

BA felt his eyes stinging, while he was watching his friend's body shivering on the ground, on a blanket that had been spread out on the grass in the shadow of the van.

He was right: Bratt had been captured and left for the police with strong evidence of his guilt… but, if this had been the price to pay, wouldn't it have been too much for the Team?

Hannibal and Face were staring at the map, laid out on the black hot hood.

"Colonel, this is a bloody mess…. Cops will be all around… there is no way we can get away from here without being stopped. We need the hell of a plan Hannibal or there will be no jazz here, but only a requiem." Face remained silent for a moment, shocked by his own words, but Hannibal understood completely the explosion of fear he felt and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Lieutenant, listen to me; we are gonna make it ok? We'll find a way and we'll have Murdock back to… normal …" Both men shared a quick smile at the little joke that made everything seem more familiar. Irony was their weapon, stronger than any other gun, useful in the moments of despair and fundamental to give themselves the illusion of controlling the world, even in the most dangerous situation, even when there seemed to be no way out. It was their language, a sort of a liturgy they shared to feel that life was serious enough to be taken less seriously if necessary. But now, this time, the device of irony didn't work. Nothing could work till they had found a way to save their friend.

Decker was right a few years before, when Murdock was shot by Clayton, and he said about the Team: "_They think as one, feel as one and act as one. But with a wounded man in their midst they cease to be that. The good of the unit becomes the good of an individual. And that will be their undoing._"

"Face, do you remember the other time Murdock was shot? We could hide him in the woods, but here, in California, there is only desert around and there is no way to do the same. Anyway, that time, I had a Plan B in case you hadn't made it on time from the Ranger Station with the first aid stuff. I wanted to show up and make the MP run after me, so you could take Murdock to the Hospital. It wasn't necessary at the time, but I'll do it now! "

"Hannibal, I don't know…"

The Colonel didn't wait for an answer. His men were his friends and had always a role in the decisions of the Team, but at the end of the day, he wouldn't have let any of his guys take a responsibility like this one. It was his duty.

He knelt down near Murdock and, touching his burning forehead, he told him: "We're gonna take you to hospital, Cap'n. Just hold on there and you have my word it will be over very soon."

"No Colonel, please … You just…"

"Murdock, we have already talked about this in the past. We are a Team, we stick together, we fight together, we live together and we die together if necessary."

"Hannibal, y..you guys are everything I've got in the w..world. I wouldn't want to… to live if it meant for you to be stuck in a rotten jail."

A convulsive cough broke Murdock's words and then, with excruciating difficulty, he raised his hand in sign of military salute and added: "Maybe it's better this way Colonel… It was a honour to be part of …."

Hannibal intercepted his Murdock's hand mid-way and held it tight with a fierce pride: "Don't talk like that Cap'n, it's not time to say goodbye yet. And if that time ever arrives, we will be the ones who have to honor you."

Face ran one hand through his hair and noticed it was shaking as it had never had since he was a young officer in Vietnam, before the cold blood of the Green Berets became part of his own soul.

He hadn't prayed in a long, long time, maybe even before the war itself. Probably it last happened at the Catholic Orphanage, when the sisters forced the young guys to pray every single day before dinner and twice on Sundays. Now Face thought there was nothing else he could do: normally, in case of emergency, he was always working to provide what the Team needed to escape or launch an attack… but now… he felt helpless and he found himself saying, "Please God… Please" while he was pressing a red cloth on his friend's wounded side.

"People think this man in crazy but he's got more sense than everyone else."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **

**I'd like to thank my friends Sandy, Paula, Kathy, Fer, Tammy and Kristy for their encouragement.. if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be writing at all!**

**Thank you so much Michele: in you I've found an indispensable help, but above all a very special friend**

* * *

Starsky pulled over. He was quiet and his gaze was lowered on the wheel. Hutch watched him with a questioning expression: after almost 24 hours of driving around and trying to track down the A-Team, he was tired and unnerved by the whole reason why they were doing it. He wasn't used to chasing outlaws without being sure to send them directly to jail… he felt uncomfortable in this undefined position his partner put him in.

"What's wrong partner?"

Starsky didn't say a word and kept watching his own hands.

" Starsk, I'm talking with you! You have spent the last day looking frantically for those people and now that we are so close, you decide to give up? Make up your mind, buddy… I'm starting to have a hard time following you..."

"You don't have to, Hutch."

"I don't… what?" His tone was now exasperated.

" You can take a cab from here or I can take you to the next black and white and I'm sure they can give you a lift to the department. We can say I had a glitch and... No, I'll take you to the department myself, ok? Then I'll come back…"

"Cut it out Starsky!" Hutch was now really enraged and he stormed out of the car, almost running to the driver's side door and opening it with more fury he had expected.

Starsky knew there was no more chance to avoid his partner's urgency to make things clear. He got out of the Torino with the resigned obedience of a man who had just been sentenced to death. "Hutch, don't get mad…. I don't want to induce you to do anything you don't really want. That's not the way we work…"

"The way we work partner? This is not the way we ARE. What about the 'me and thee', huh? I'm trying to run after you and you won't let me reach you, how can I help you if you don't…"

"I'm just trying to protect you, Hutch!"

"Protect me? You are trying to protect yourself, partner! And you think that by locking me out you are defending yourself. I took a step back to give you space… but I won't let you push me away again."

Hutch noticed the harsh tone of his own voice, knowing it was due to his sense of helplessness and not to his rage as it seemed. So he tried to approach his partner, who was leaning against a big tree a little far from the road side, and went on more gently, "Starsk… you are chasing ghosts."

"Then let me do it by myself!" Starsky snapped without meeting his partner's staring eyes.

"Ah, come on… don't pretend you don't feel and you don't care, buddy… you can fool anyone but me!" Hutch answered. He moved a few steps towards Starsky, reaching out for his arm in a friendly attempt to eliminate the physical and emotional distance between the two. He couldn't expect Starsky's reaction at this simple gesture: he moved his arm abruptly against Hutch's touch, rejecting it and causing his friend to lose his balance and move a couple of steps back to steady himself. He stumbled back against the tree which provided the shelter for this private conversation. Hutch almost fell to the ground, his eyes still concentrated on his partner, who seemed suddenly unfamiliar to him, like a stranger on the street.

"I _feel_ Hutch ok?" bellowed Starsky with a mixture of pain and rage in his wet eyes, "I feel even if I don't want to… and you know what? It sucks!"

"Starsk, you can push me away, you can throw me to the ground, you can punch me in the face, but I will always come back." I am in love with this man! Love how he's gonna stick by Starsk no matter what.

At these words Starsky froze, immobile like a stone in the middle of a violent stream. Hutch knew that the button was now pushed. The question was what would come later.

"They didn't…" were the only whispered words he received as an answer, while Starsky crouched, his eyes still staring into nowhere.

Hutch didn't say a word, he just scooted a little closer… without talking, without touching.

"We were surrounded. We thought we were safe in Hang Gai, but God knows we were wrong. The Vietcong were all over…they were waiting for us and they waited and waited, in silence, till the night arrived. And then… they jumped out from nowhere and started shooting. And we fought…we fought with all of our might. We fought. We fought for hours, deaf to the shooting and blind in the darkness. Maybe we were aiming to one another and we didn't even know."

Hutch's heart was hurting now and he couldn't breath without feeling a sudden lump in his throat.

"We won… we won. We resisted. We did.. We won.." Starsky repeated as if he was in a mental loop. Hutch tried to reach out now, to break this heartbreaking memory, but before he touched his partner's knee, Starsky went on talking and Hutch pulled his hand back and waited in silence.

"Many of us died… we hadn't noticed how many since the sun came out and we saw the slaughter all around. Some of us were wounded. Severely wounded. They cried but we couldn't hear their screams because our ears were still useless." Starsky touched his own thigh with one hand and added "I was shot too. Nothing too serious..."

At this point Hutch remembered the unknown scar he saw so many times on his friend's familiar body and he bit his tongue for having asked so superficially what had caused it. He had never got an answer, till now.

"I could have gone back with the others but I wasn't so fast with my injured leg, so I decided to stay, in this way I wouldn't have slowed them down. In the meanwhile I could take care of the others, who were lying there in pain and unable to defend themselves."

Hutch couldn't help thinking that this was so much like his partner: he was the kind of man you would have always wanted next to you in the middle of hell.

"They promised they would have come back. 'Hold on just one day, Lieutenant', they told me."

It was strange for Hutch to consider his partner, Sergeant David Starsky – Detective First Class, in his military rank. His friend had rarely mentioned it before.

Starsky went on talking, as if he was in a sort of hypnotic state: "They didn't come back. Not in a day, not in two, not even in a week. They didn't come back at all."

Hutch suddenly understood why his own words reached Starsky so deeply. "I will always come back" was everything he needed to hear. "Oh God, Starsk." This time Hutch's hand was laid on his partner's shoulder and the touch was firm and steady.

Finally, Starsky turned towards his friend and stared into his wet eyes, full of compassion and understanding, and he cried, "All of the men who were with me died, Hutch. One after the other. I was there to protect them but I couldn't… I saw them all dying." Starsky was now sobbing and Hutch held his shoulders tightly with both hands. His partner's words didn't seem to stop now that the emotional door was open: "Everyone wants to talk about soldiers who died in a final flag salute, crying out 'Semper Fidelis!' but it's not true, Hutch. They were all proud and courageous men but how much pain do they think a man can take? We all die the same way: crying, vomiting, calling our moms and praying God to take us away! But this is something people don't want to hear, right?"

"This is something everybody should hear Starsk… Any country should know how its men are dying if it wants to be worth their lives." Hutch held his shivering friend in a tight hug, determined to show him he wouldn't have let him go.

After a few minutes, Hutch felt his friend's sobbing body relaxing a little and he slowly loosened his grip, noticing for the first time that his own cheeks were as wet as his partner's. "I will always come back Starsk. Always."

For the first time in at least a day, Starsky smiled a little and his eyes, sparkling in tears, were now as close to Hutch as his own heart.

* * *

Some steps were now approaching, strong and quick, as a fierce trotting horse.

The two men were suddenly startled and they tried to stand up quickly, even if their knees didn't want to respond immediately. They focused on a man taking long steps towards the road and maybe even heading to the Torino. They were now a little way from the road side, where Starsky's car was parked, because they involuntarily had moved to a quiet place to talk.

The man was now doubtlessly trying to open the Torino, without apparently noticing it was a police car.

Hutch, immediately snapped back to reality and shouted: "Hold on, police!" but, while he was trying to pull out his Magnum to stop the robber, he saw a gun aimed at him in a heartbeat.

"Ok, ok , take it easy, huh?" Hutch added in a soothing tone.

"I apologize for my rudeness, Officer, but I need a car right now. You can have it back, after my friend is safe" the white haired man added.

"Colonel Smith" Starsky called from behind. "Colonel…" Starsky walked slowly towards Hannibal, without even trying to take his own gun. His voice assumed that he had recognized the older man and it made Hannibal hesitate before stopping him.

"Colonel I don't mind what happened in Hanoi … The only thing I know and I care about right now is that I owe you a big one and I am a man of honor too. I want to pay for my debts."

Hannibal stared intensely at the curly man but couldn't recognize him, so he kept his gun pointed at Hutch, which Starsky actually didn't like one bit. "I want to help you and I will… you can have my car if you want it, but take your gun away from my partner, ok?"

Hannibal lowered it and asked: "I don't have time for riddles right now, man…. If you wanna tell me..."

"Lieutenant Dave Starsky, Colonel. I was the man you found in Hang Gai, the only one who survived in…." his voice trailed off but he kept his composure; he wasn't talking to his buddy now, he was talking as a soldier. "You and your Unit were heading to a small town near Hanoi but you diverted from your mission to take me to the field hospital. You ordered so. Your Sergeant carried me on his shoulders, your Lieutenant gave me his water and food and your pilot took me there. You can't remember it, Sir, but I will. Your Unit was already famous over there, always engaged in dangerous missions… but you stopped for me that day. You told me that just one life is enough of a reason to fight for and to die for. That's why I became a cop after I came back, Sir."

Hannibal put his gun away and walked towards Starsky. "Seems I made the right choice that day, son. And so did you. If we protect one man and that person helps other people… we haven't saved just one life but a whole nation."

Hutch had put his gun away too, and now he genuinely smiled at the man who had allowed his partner to be still alive, here with him. He watched the man who was haunted by the system but still believed in a way to make it work with a new-found respect.

"I want to help you, Sir." Starsky stated.

"You don't owe us anything Lieutenant. We never take scores."

"Sergeant now, Sir. Detective Sergeant Starsky.

"So let's put it this way. I want to save one life, as you did. Your friend's life."

Hannibal came closer and put one black-gloved hand on Starsky's shoulder: "Thank you Detective."

Hutch reached out his hand to shake the Colonel's. "Ken Hutchinson. I've never been a soldier but I'd fight any day with a man like you".


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you again to all my facebook friends, who are always motivating me, and thanks to everyone who would like to leave a short comment about the story!**

**Michele.. you are my Angel!**

* * *

Starsky was a little surprised when he saw Hutch sitting spontaneously on the rear seat of the Torino, in order to leave the passenger's one to Hannibal. The two partners shared a quick glance and Hutch's small nod gave Starsky a reassuring feeling: now they were together in this and nothing could make him feel more comfortable.

Hannibal's features were visibly tense: his light blue eyes, that the passing of the years had made even more bright in pride and experience, were now dim in worry and anguish. The man had always a witty word for every situation, but now he was just concentrated on staring at the area, to find out any possible obstacle that could stop them from joining his wounded man.

Starsky followed the instructions he received from the Colonel in silence and he tried to stifle his instinct to answer, "Yes, Sir"; his time in the Army was over now. Over.

Hutch broke the silence from behind: "We met Laura and Abby yesterday. They're fine and really grateful to you for what you have done".

Hannibal took a cigar out of the hidden pocket of his jacket. He just watched it, without even try to light it up.

"Yeah, they will be fine now. That jerk received what he deserved…. Now it's up to you to put him where he belongs, right?"

Hannibal cast a glance to the rear and Hutch nodded without saying a word.

"Yeah, I know that our help may be … how can I say … "unrequested" by authorities, but, believe me officer, my men and me have great respect for what you represent. We are just kind of filling the gaps left by the Law," Hannibal added with without the slightest shadow of disdain in his proud tone.

Hutch scooted a little forward and planted his left elbow on the driver's seatback.

Hannibal was watching the dirt patch in front of them, while Hutch was looking at him and Starsky was spying on his partner in the rearview mirror.

"Why do you do it, Colonel?"

Hannibal, with his cigar still in his left hand, turned over to face Hutch and with a half-smile he just answered: "I guess for the same reason you do it, Detective".

After a few seconds of silence the answer came, "Hutch. My friends call me Hutch."

"Friends call me Hannibal."

Three pairs of blue eyes met again for one second, before Starsky saw the van and parked where the Colonel had shown him. He turned the engine off and he saw two M16 aimed at the car.

Hannibal got out of the Torino and he addressed his men, "It's ok, guys…how is Murdock?"

"Still the same but he's bleeding like hell, Hannibal" answered Face, his gun now more relaxed and leaning to the ground.

" Face, BA, here are Detectives Hutch and Starsky, they are going to help us out of this mess..."

"What are you talking about, man? They're cops?" BA barked in an indignant voice, stepping towards with his gold necklaces clinking on the iron of his gun.

"Take it easy, Sergeant… we already know this man," Hannibal stated, putting one hand on Starsky's shoulder. "You may remember him from Hang Gai.. we gave him a lift to the field hospital and now he's ready to return us the favor," he explained briefly, wishing to see Murdock as soon as possible and not to waste precious time that could save his friend's life.

Starsky and Hutch followed the Colonel and the two other men walked behind them, scrutinzing the dark-curled man they were supposed to recognize.

Murdock was still lying in the same place, groaning softly and speaking indistinctly in his overwhelming pain. Hannibal checked his state and Starsky crouched next to him, slowly lifting the leather jacket that had been laid on the wounded body to keep him warm. There was plenty of blood flowing out of the wound and the smell of it took Starsky back to that place where they first met.

"We need to take him to the hospital right now." He knew he was stating the obvious, just to get distracted by the sudden nausea he felt. "We can put him in my car and in a few minutes…."

"No way, man! You're not gonna take him away from us that easy! Right, Hannibal? You told the crazy man that we'll always stick together!"

Hannibal and Face shared an understanding look… they needed nothing else to get along.

"Our friend is right, BA. This time we have to take a step back, for Murdock's sake. Do you think you're ready to do it for him?"

"Hell no! I won't leave him! I gave him my word!" BA shouted out.

"C'mon BA…think about it…he is not chased by the MP's. He can get the medical attention he needs and then get back to the VA with no risks." Faced added in his persuasive tone.

As the VA was mentioned, Starsky and Hutch shared a startled glance, but there was no time for explanations now. There was no time to speculate on what kind of physical or emotional scars the war had left. Scars were endurable, as long as the men were alive.

While BA and Hannibal were trying to ease Murdock onto the rear seat of the Torino, giving him as little pain as possible, and while Hutch helped by keeping the wound pressed with the cloth, Starsky got ready to sit behind the wheel and fly to the nearest ER, but Face stopped his side door and said, "I remember you now. You were the only survivor in Hang Gai… we took you away from there and after a few weeks I heard you refused the Medal of Honor for what you did in that hell. Did you really do that?"

"I deserved no medals , Lieutenant Peck. Not that day," replied Starsky in a broken voice.

Face didn't answer but kept watching him, while he turned on the engine.

"And what about you, guys?" asked Hutch before getting into the car.

"We're gonna make it out" Hannibal answered back "This is the telephone number of our van, please call us if anything happens to him… otherwise, we'll get in touch!"

The Torino sped away and the three men stayed there, immobile, with a stone on their heart and hidden tears in their eyes.

"He's gonna make it. He's in good hands now" Hannibal said, slightly voiceless, but still sure…putting one hand on the shoulder of each of his men.

"Hannibal, he.. he has to…" Face let out in one sob that made a shiver run along BA's spine. "We were always kidding and I often said things I didn't mean and don't believe… and … and Hannibal… there are things I didn't tell him at all," the sudden breakdown of his Lieutenant shook the Colonel's deepest soul and a big lump jumped up in his throat. He was still the commander, though, and he knew what he had to do: he held Face's shoulders in a firm grip, shaking him slightly to hook his gaze: "He knows, Face. He knows. He can watch farther and deeper than most of us."

* * *

It was hard for Starsky to speed down the dirty patch without making Murdock's body jump on the rear seat. Hutch knelt on his own place, his back to the windshield, to reach out for the suffering man and trying to steady his body and keep some pressure on the wounded side. The Captain kept groaning and his incoherent words were whispered but very fast. They seemed to come directly from another world.

"The VA, Starsk… Can you believe it? Psychiatric Hospital… God knows what he has seen… " said Hutch, as to himself.

"Our mind is a strange device, Hutch. It tries to protect us… sometimes from real life, other times from memories… from the past and the future…" Hutch laid his right hand, the one that wasn't completely covered in blood, on Starsky's arm, understanding perfectly the meaning of his partner's words, addressed both to Murdock's situation and to his own."It tries to protect us from ghosts," Starsky added in a breath.

"Anyway," he kept talking, now with a more confident tone, "Captain Murdock has always been something! I remember when he took me to the field hospital in his helicopter... he kept talking to me, to cover my own thoughts with his voice. I was hurting bad, both physically and emotionally, and he talked about all those western movies," Starsky let out a small laugh, "about cowboys who get shot and still stand up and stay strong in what they believe in."

At this point Hutch's heart missed one beat. He remembered when Starsky was poisoned by Vic Bellamy and, resigned to a certain death, he reached out for his partner's hand saying: "_If this was a cowboy movie, I'd give you my boots._" Now Hutch got the meaning of it and he squeezed his partner's arm a little tighter to signal his understanding.

"Yeah," acknowledged Starsky, perfectly understanding the meaning of his partner's gesture but without taking his eyes away from the street.

"And you know what? I remember Murdock quoting many lines he remembered from those movies… yeah… he knew a lot of them and tried to act them-imitating the original voices to make me laugh a little. His favourite was…. " Here Starsky stopped talking but it was clear it wasn't a gap in his memory but a dive into the past. Hutch wanted to keep his friend there with him and he insisted: "What was it, partner?"

"It was… - Oh, doesn't matter… we've arrived! Here's the hospital."

* * *

Doctors had already been alerted by Hutch, using the radio, and the moments that followed the arrival at the hospital were extremely hectic; Murdock was immediately taken away on a stretcher and he received an oxygen mask.

Starsky and Hutch were asked many questions about the man they were delivering directly to the surgery room, but they realized they didn't know anything about him…not even his first name.

"He's gonna be just fine Starsk, don't worry," Hutch said, putting his arm around his partner's shoulder.

"Yeah, he is."

"And what about you? Are _you_ going to be fine?" Hutch was now looking at his friend's pale and tense face.

"I think I will, Hutch. I'm going through all of that again but this time…"

"This time you're not alone, pal." Hutch interrupted.

Starsky rested his head on Hutch's shoulder for a moment and his partner cupped his head with a gentle but manly gesture that felt good all the way down to Starsky's bones. That cold place in his mind was now warmed up by Hutch's touch and he felt his own hands clasping his friend's jacket as if it was his lifeline.

Waiting for a doctor that should have come out from surgery to update the detectives about Murdock's situation, the friends were all alone in the silence of the waiting room and Starsky could hear his own breathing against his partner's body.

"I'm sorry, Hutch" were his suffocated words.

Hutch pulled away and bent his head so he could watch into his friend's eyes. "Sorry? Sorry for what, Starsk?"

"Sorry for involving you in all this, sorry for being so scared and weak… this is not the kind of partner you need or deserve."

"What are you talking about, buddy? We have always been there for each other when we were most vulnerable…God knows you have seen me wrecked and broken!"

"It's different Hutch…sometimes life has put you down, right, but…"

"But what Starsk?"

"But you have always known what you wanted, even before being a cop! You knew you didn't belong with your snobbish family, you knew you hated war and demonstrated for it, you knew the kind of man you wanted to become…"

"Starsk, wait.. wait! Are you saying you didn't know the kind of man you wanted to become when you have taken care of your mom and your brother after your father's death? Or when you decided you didn't belong to the Brooklyn underground you were supposed to grow up in? You left because you wanted to fight for your ideals!"

"And I fought Hutch. But for no ideals. Once you're in the midst of hell you don't seem to recall what the reason was… you just try to patch up the limbs of your friends when you find them scattered on the ground…"

"Starsky, listen to me now. You know what I consider to be one of the strongest qualities in a man? Being able to go through hell and coming out, from the opposite end, with the same innocent and pure eyes you had before. That makes you a Man. That makes you the partner I'll always want.

"I love you Starsk, you already know it… but above all I respect you, I admire your strength and your ability to stand up again and again when life knocks you down. I wish I had your ability to keep loving that life as I did before it tried to crush me, without blaming it for trying.

"You are the man I'd like to be... if I wasn't Captain Marvel of course!"

Both men let out a little laugh and Starsky could now feel his head getting lighter. There was an unknown place in his gut that had seemed unreachable to him, until now: he felt Hutch's acceptance melt his sense of guilt and give space to the forgiveness that Starsky borrowed for himself from his friend.

At that very moment a Doctor and a nurse entered the room, capturing the attention of the two men immediately and dragging them out of their overwhelming emotion.

"Detectives, your friend has been lucky. The bullet hasn't damaged vital organs, it just caused him massive blood loss and a small secondary infection. We have fixed the first problem with a blood transfusion and we're going to fix the other with a mixture of antibiotics."

"But he will live?" Starsky always looked for matter-of-fact statements, and he always double checked what he thought to have understood with a plain question, simple as that.

"Yes he will live. He was lucky you brought him here on time or he would have died for sure. He's in ICU now and is still sedated, but he may wake up in a few hours so I guess we should call the family."

"We'll do it Doctor," Hutch answered, automatically looking for the piece of paper that was in his pocket, with the van phone number on it.

Starsky and Hutch shared a look… they had to call. The A-Team was his family.

* * *

Only a few hours later Starsky, still sitting on a chair near Murdock's bed, while Hutch had gone to make that call and to get something to eat, heard the pilot moving and saying a few words. The talking was indistinct, but Murdock's eyes were now open and looking around.

Starsky immediately got up and he imagined what he would have felt if he had woken up all alone in an unknown hospital without knowing what was going on and what happened to his friends. So he came closer and talked gently: "Captain Murdock, you are in the hospital. You've been shot and you've lost a lot of blood but you'll be fine. Do you understand me?"

Murdock nodded. His eyes seemed extremely present considering he had been sedated.

Starsky lowered his voice: "You're friends are fine; they will come back soon"

That sentence seemed to recur over and over again in Starsky's head lately.

"They will REALLY come back soon, Captain, they were so worried about you…They entrusted you to my partner and I; we are friends."

The effort in Murdock's eyes to try and recognize the man in front of him was enormous.

"We met in Hang Gai , in Vietnam, Captain. You and your Unit saved my life. You can't remember me…I was…"

"C-c-cow-boy!" Murdock muttered in a raspy and almost voiceless attempt to speak, his mouth still dry and rigid.

Starsky stared at the pilot in amazement, while Murdock even tried a quick half-smile when he saw the astonishment in Starsky's eyes for being recognized.

"Yes, yes Captain…it was me…I still recall that line from the movie TheAlamo that you were always repeating to me. Davy Crockett's words….Yeah, you told me Davy and I shared the same name and so we would share the same destiny, too!

"What was it like... '_There's right and there's wrong. You gotta do one or the other. You do the one and you are living, you do the other and you may be walking around, but…_"

"… _You're dead as a beaver hat_," Murdock completed with his hoarse, dried up words.

Starsky was moved to tears and so surprised that he could only answer: "I've tried to live that way Cap'n."

In the frame of the doorstep Hutch was silently watching, a small package of sandwiches in his hand and eyes swollen in emotion. "So that was the line" he whispered to himself. "The line that makes you a Man, partner."


	4. Chapter 4

** "The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own" - Benjamin Disraeli**

**Thank you again to all my friends, who motivate me every day. Michele, you're special.**

* * *

"Dobey wants us to wait for him here at the hospital He says someone wants to talk to us," Hutch told his partner, while entering Murdock's ICU room and finding Starsky still sitting by the bed in a pensive mood.

Starsky nodded, still lost in his thoughts. "It's not so hard to imagine what they want to talk about."

"Well," Hutch answered in a faked distraction, "I wouldn't worry too much about it

His partner looked at him with questioning eyes and the blond detective explained with a smile: "They're gonna ask about things we have no answers for: we just found this wounded man… and you have recognized him from 'Nam. Is there anything else to know?"

Starsky smiled. He appreciated the way Hutch was trying to make things easier for him: asking his friend to lie to their Captain was a pain for Starsky, who wasn't even sure that his very honest friend could ever agree on this. The way Hutch offered his support, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, touched his partner deeper than he was able to explain.

Suddenly, while they were both moving out of the room to talk about the way they could have handled the questioning they would have had to endure, Murdock started to move slightly in the bed, groaning in pain at the tiniest movement.

Starsky came back and touched the pilot's arm with his left hand: "Please take it easy, Captain, the doctor will be here soon," he murmured in a soft tone that normally was only addressed to suffering friends, children or women. It surprised Starsky himself, who continued, "Just hold on, painkillers are on their way.. you'll feel so much better very soon".

Murdock woke up all of a sudden and he tried to cry out, "I have no idea where they are. I don't know anything!" Then he recognized Starsky and somehow recalled he previous conversation they had when he was still half sedated, so he relaxed his wide-eyed glance and remained in silence.

"You're friends are fine, Captain. Nobody knows where they are," Starsky immediately said. "We have updated them about your present condition and they're incredibly relieved to know you are out of danger."

"Y- you are a g-good man, _cowboy_," Murdock tried to say wandering with his eyes as if he was looking for air to breathe.

"Starsky is my name. Some water, Captain?"

Murdock was unbelievably alert, considering his state, and he went on with a stronger voice, "I remember something about you, back then in 'Nam, Lieutenant Starsky. Something the war doesn't seem to have taken away from you. Compassion. There was compassion in your eyes.

Starsky poured some water into a glass and took it to Murdock's lips, allowing only a few drops to slip into his mouth. "I'm a cop now, Captain. I've left the Army, so I'm not entitled to that rank anymore," he added.

At the word 'cop_' _Murdock was visibly startled but he didn't ask anything. He just stared at the other blond man, who stayed not far from his bed.

"He is Hutch, my partner." Starsky answered to the silent question, "Don't worry, he is ok".

Murdock rested his heavy head onto the pillow and turned to Hutch, "I guess you're trying to get out of debt for your partner's life, Officer. That's why you're here, aren't you?"

Hutch moved a couple of steps closer, "I guess it was like that at the beginning, but now..." Hutch said.

Both Murdock and Starsky were now watching him, hoping in a further explanation that could complete the words , but it didn't come.

The pilot was never lacking in words, not even when he was pushing the odds, and he immediately filled the silence, his voice a little more steady but his breath still short and gasping.

"Good thing to stand by your partner, officer," He half-smiled and coughed a little, looking at Starsky with a glance of complicity, and then he went on with their old game. "How was that line in _'The Wild Bunch'_? Yeah… it was_ 'When you side with a man, you stay with him. And if you can't do that, you're like some animal - you're finished_."

Hutch smiled and nodded, he knew perfectly what the man was talking about.

"They're my Team. My guys", the pilot went on in a grave voice, "I'll always stick with them, doesn't matter what, because we belong together. I would even if… I would whatever they did…", he corrected himself and both Starsky and Hutch felt confused about the direction that this conversation seemed to take. "I would even if they were guilty, officers, because we are as one and because I know them better than anyone, and I couldn't believe them doing anything bad if not for more than a good reason."

"Captain, please don't go ahead with this…the less we know, the better," Hutch interrupted, but Murdock wasn't the kind of man that could be silenced, even in spite of a hole in his side, and he continued, "I would live and die with them anyway. I'd even lie for them if necessary… but I'm saying the truth now. They are innocent. They are. You are doing the right thing."

Starsky nodded in relief, as if he had finally received a gulp of breath he was gasping for, while Hutch remained silent and immobile, till the door was suddenly open and a Doctor came in.

He had large glasses on his nose and neat mustaches. His hair was slicked down with tons of hair cream.

The Doctor stepped rapidly towards the bed, leaving a distracted "G'morning" behind his back.

At the sight of the white dressed man, though, Murdock lit up and, with a painful but confident smile, he greeted, " Hey Doc. I was in good company here, but still missing my Billy…. What about dogs here in the hospital, Doc? He could just sleep here with me."

Starsky and Hutch were confused and a little worried.

"He'll wait for you home, Murdock! " The man answered in a gentle tone, and then he added with a small laugh, "BA is gonna take care of him".

"Oh no, BA hates Billy" Murdock exploded, but his eyes had a playful spark inside.

The Doctor turned towards Starsky and Hutch and smiled, "No worries guys.. .there is no Billy. It's only in his head!

"Thank you for your help, Detectives, I don't know what we would have done if it hadn't been for you," continued the man, reaching out to shake hands with them.

"_Lieutenant Peck_?", Starsky asked in amazement.

"Face. Yep, that's me. No offense intended, Officer, but we needed to verify personally how Murdock is doing!"

"No offense taken!" Hutch answered, still amazed by the fact that it took less than an heartbeat for the pilot to recognize his friend in disguise. He perfectly knew what it was like to have such kind of a bond with someone. It had always been like that with his own partner.

Face turned back to Murdock and sat carefully on the edge of his bed, "So, how ya doing, Cap'n?"

"Almost ready to take off, Face."

"I'd rather have you down here with us, pal…. That was a close one!"

"So you were worried for me, buddy boy, huh? I remember Hannibal telling me…" A pang of emotion took words away from Murdock when he remembered the last speech he had with the Colonel, but silence didn't last for long. "And what about BA, Face? Did he miss me?"He added playfully but with some expectation in his eyes.

"You scared us all to death this time, Murdock!" Face answered more seriously than the pilot expected him to, " I… I thought… oh God, Murdock I was thinking that you… I would have wanted to…"

"Maybe I'm really dead and I'm in another world where my friend, the Faceman, struggles to find the right words," Murdock joked, easing the tension and taking a little smile out of the other man.

"Hannibal wanted to come over himself today, but I asked him to do it in his place. I had to see you." Face added.

"What's going on, Face?"

Starsky and Hutch shared a look... they knew very well the intimacy of a moment like this and headed towards the glass door to control if anyone was arriving, in order to provide Face sort of a back up in this vulnerable moment.

"Murdock, you know I'd never had a family, until we got together in the A-Team.

"I tried so hard to prove I was somebody, just borrowing identities that had never belonged to me. C'mon I still do it every day. Truth is, I was nobody.

"Hannibal saw something in me and trusted me enough to become '_Face_' and it gave me a reason. He had found out who I was before I did it myself.

"But sometimes, it's useless to turn page if there's nobody who can read it. And you… well, your messed up head is the only one who can really do it… but sometimes we are so wrapped up in our shining armors to defend ourselves from reality that we don't tell…"

"Face", Murdock interrupted. "It's not necessary... I mean, I know…"

"You don't get what I mean..."

"Oh yeah, I can perfectly get what you mean… you have just told it… my _messed up head_ can read quite well!"

Faced chuckled a little and watched out of the window but it was quite clear he was just trying to hide his emotion.

"And you know why I get it?" Murdock went on. "Because you were the man who stepped into a ranger station full of MP's just to collect some medical stuff for me. Because when we're in the fight I feel your rifle just behind me, and I feel you're watching my back. Because you helped me pass that psychiatric test and watched those stupid images with me again and again. Because you pretend to pat Billy and you let me be the Lone Ranger, or Humphrey Bogart, or Frank Sinatra… or just myself. That is why I know it, Face."

Starsky and Hutch could hear what was said, even if they were still in the doorframe, and they felt a deep connection, a strong emotion that was ripped apart when two men entered the corridor.

"Captain Dobey" , Hutch called more loudly than necessary, to let Face know that it was time to split. Then Starsky walked towards his commander to accidentally stop him before he reached the ICU room.

There was a man with them, he had an Army uniform, a white scarf and heavy-duty boots.

"Detective Starsky, Detective Hutchinson, this is General Fulbright, from the MP's."

"Good morning, Sirs," both partners answered back, watching Face out of the corner of their eye. He slipped out of Murdock's room and took the elevator. Both of them breathed in relief.

"The General is here to talk with Captain Murdock but, before, he wanted to ask you a few questions," Dobey explained.

Both Detectives nodded, as if they were not only ready, but also willing to help.

"As you may know, Detectives, the three men that were with Murdock are outlaws. They are violent and dangerous for anyone they meet! They are potentially dangerous for the entire Nation!"

"That's awful" Starsky answered back, seriously concerned.

"It's of vital importance, Sirs, that you let us know anything you may know to track down these criminals and assure them to justice. Obviously the Army won't forget the role you would play in capturing the most infamous outlaws that our Country has known since the time of Jessie James".

"I'm so sorry, General… I'm afraid we can't be of any help here. We just found this man bleeding and took him to the hospital. We didn't see anyone else and the Captain was already unconscious so he couldn't tell us anything of interest for you." Starsky innocently stated.

After a few further questions, the General gave up and headed towards Murdock's door. Dobey and his two Officers watched him questioning the pilot and receiving incoherent answers concerning Vietcong, aliens and pirates that would have conspired against him. The Captain rolled his eyes, shifted from a voice to another and pleaded the General to help him against evil forces.

While Dobey contemplated the poor man with pitiful eyes, Starsky and Hutch watched this man in full amazement for the extraordinary performance he was giving for his friends' sake.

"A whole life wearing a straight jacket to protect your friends… and maybe… yourself," STarsky thought with a pang of sadness in his stomach.

When the questioning was over, Fulbright rushed away, railing against everyone he found on his path, and Dobey called his men aside and watched them straight in their eyes.

"Ok, guys. It's only you and me now. And we have always been together in everything. I trust you and you know you can trust me, doesn't matter what. So… let it out now. What do you know?"

The partners watched their Captain, who had always been on their side in face of everything, and they were paralyzed by his honest and heartfelt question.

"We know nothing Cap. I'm sorry. We really know nothing." The answer was just as simple. And it came from Hutch.

A few minutes later Starsky and Hutch were walking out of the hospital side by side, in silence.

"What was the other part of your sentence, Hutch?"

"What sentence?"

"The one you were telling Murdock. When you said that at the beginning you helped me because I owed it to them… and then..?"

Before Hutch could answer, a military jeep approached the partners and a couple of men jumped out and caught them from behind. Before the Detectives could defend themselves, or even understand what was happening, the back of a M16 hit their heads and everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

**A short Epilogue will follow this last chapter.. so... stay tuned!**

* * *

When Starsky and Hutch woke up, their wrists were fastened behind their backs and they were lying on the cold floor of a warehouse. There was nobody there, but the military jeep was parked inside and in the shadows appeared big cases with an Army emblem on them.

Starsky woke up first, groaned in pain when he opened his eyes and felt an enormous headache spreading from the point where he had been pistol whipped. He batted his eyelids to clear the vision and tried to understand where he was and what had happened.

Hutch was his first thought and, not seeing him immediately, an excruciating stab ran across his head, magnified by the increasing pumping of his blood at the mere thought of having lost track of his partner.

When he noticed his unconscious friend lying down in a corner, Starsky tried to stand up and staggered towards him, falling onto his knees a few inches from Hutch. The brunet had his hands still tied behind his back, so it was impossible for him to touch his partner, to verify if he was breathing, to shake him, to hug him, to brush his blond hair away from his eyes, or even just to feel physical contact with him. Starsky bent down, putting his face very close to Hutch's mouth, praying to feel his friend's breath, and muttered, "Oh please God, please… Hutch.. Wake up partner… please buddy…."

He was still in that position when Hutch opened his light-blue eyes and found his partner's face almost touching his own nose. "Wanna kiss me, buddy?" he said, in a sleepy voice

"Starsky immediately straightened and snapped back in relief, "It was about time, Sleeping Beauty!"

"Where are we?" Hutch asked, trying to get on his knees and moving his aching head to take his hair out of his eyes.

"No clue. There's military stuff here."

"Well.. I didn't know that the Army used these ways to demand answers. I may have skipped some news lately… but I didn't know we were in a dictatorship…"

At that very moment a door swung open and three pairs of heavy-duty boots came in against the light.

"So here we are… welcome back, _officers,_" one of the men stated in an ironic tone.

"You could have given us a call if you needed to talk," Starsky answered drily.

The man came closer and violently grabbed him by the hair on the back of his head, pulling him backwards painfully. "We're not here to listen to your jokes, ok?"

Hutch instinctively jumped next to his partner but was stopped by the back of a gun in his stomach, as one other soldier approached to back up his commander. The blond detective collapsed with a deep groan. Starsky got free from the other man's grip and rushed to his friend, but his hands were still fastened so he wasn't able to grab his shoulders and hold him up.

"What do you think you are doing?" Starsky shouted out. "You are breaking a hundred different laws here… You'll be court martialed!"

The man in uniform approached Starsky and stopped only two steps from him.

"Yeah… That's what Fulbright would say. And that's why he will never catch the A-Team! Those three jokers have fooled the whole Army, the whole Nation for 10 years now… and you know why they haven't been arrested yet? Because commanders like Fulbright are weak. They won't dare to show their teeth in face of all those stupid rules…This is a war and there are no rules in war! I will get those men one way or the other and I'll revenge the only real commander I've ever had. He will be proud of me. Colonel Decker has taught me that the end justify the means… he has taught me to fight blindly. But the A-Team ruined his career, his future. They even caused him to have an emotional breakdown. But now… I will vindicate him, and , if I have to pay for this.. well I'm ready to do it. But once I have those criminals in jail, or even better if I have them dead, the officers in the court martial will have to thank me! My name, Captain Ruyard Craig, will be remembered for years."

"This is no justice and this is no war… this is fanaticism!" Starsky answered, while Hutch was still out of breath.

A heavy-duty boot landed on the brunet's face, throwing him onto the ground. His nose bled profusely and his head hurt even more after the savage blow. Hutch was between the two men in a heartbeat making his body a shield for his partner. "Craig, you will pay for this. The army will punish you! And you are doing this for no reason, cause we don't know anything about this A-Team", he told in a firm tone.

"We'll see, cop. We'll see."

Craig turned to his two men and nodded a silent order. They accomplished it in a storm of punches and kicks that hit the bodies of the two detectives in a savage and blind violence.

* * *

After a few minutes the soldiers were gone. Starsky and Hutch stayed in the semi-darkness, half conscious, scooting next to each other to find in their presence reciprocal comfort and relief.

The night arrived and it was long and dark. The two men were thirsty and weak from lack of food. Their bodies were hurting and they felt cold and dizzy.

Hutch noticed that his friend was more injured than himself and wondered if one of the blows could have caused some serious damage or if there was some other reason.

"Starsk, you ok?"

"T'rrific."

"Yeah, well… I mean… "

"I'm fine, Hutch. I'm sorry you're here because of me"

"I'm not here _because of you,"_ Hutch answered. "I'm here _with_ you. You asked me a question today, remember?"

Starsky's eyes turned towards Hutch. Of course he remembered.

"Well, I guess I have plenty of time to answer now.

"You're right, buddy, at the beginning I was just backing you up in this. But then something changed… First I felt grateful to the A-Team for saving your life and then…," Hutch stopped and thought for a while, "Then I started thinking that I would go out and fight with these men every day if necessary. I relate to them, and I can _FEEL_ them. Does it make sense?"

"It does to me", Starsky answered with a half-smile.

"I don't think I'd be able to be so strong and generous to others if I had been set up by the system the way they have been."

Starsky nodded in agreement but he said nothing and his eyes still seemed haunted.

"Starsk?"

"Yeah."

"We're gonna make it, pal."

"I know."

Hutch scooted a little closer but he couldn't put an arm on his friend's shoulders, as he would have wanted. His wrists were hurting in the ropes.

After some time that could have lasted one minute or one month, they fell asleep, leaning against each other.

* * *

"Huutch! "

Starsky's shout woke his partner up in terror.

"Starsk, I'm here. I'm right here, buddy! Wake up..it's just a bad dream…"

The brunet opened his terrified eyes and watched his partner in pure panic.

"Hutch. I've been in that interrogation room… I don't want the Vietcong to have you. I won't let them take you…"

"Listen to me, pal. There are no Vietcong here; we are not in 'Nam… we're in LA now. The war is over now, Starsk. It's over."

Hutch leaned his forehead against his partner's sweaty one and tried to steady his pulse using his own soothing gaze and to slow down his gasping using his own breath.

"It happened to you, partner, huh? You were questioned by Vietcong over there and you are living it all over again. These days have been awful...so many horrible things coming back to you. But they are memories, Starsk. They are memories. Only awful memories. Now things are different and you are different, too. You're stronger."

"Who says that?" Starsky sobbed.

"I say it. You have something you didn't have at the time."

"What?"

"The '_me and thee_', buddy..."

Starsky let out a small smile and those simple words seemed to finally break in and crack his pain.

"I can't lose you, Hutch"

"You won't."

* * *

Starsky and Hutch were finally sleeping when Captain Craig and his men opened the door and came in. The sun was shining outside but the light in the warehouse was always dim.

"Good for you, that you could sleep tight!" Craig began. "Now it's time for us to have a talk… I'll start with one of you… The choice is up to you, cops. Who would you like me to start with?"

Hutch jumped up as if he had been stung.

"So let's start, Cap'n", he stated in a proud voice. "But you'll see very soon that I know nothing, nor does my partner.…" He knew he could resist any kind of questioning this time. He had to demonstrate it to his partner, to his new friends, and above all to himself that he would have never given his friends away. It happened when he was kidnapped by Ben Forest, but it was the drug that made him betray his girl. The heroin had taken his conscience away. It wasn't Hutch talking but his craving for a fix. No type of violence would ever be enough to break him.

One of Craig's men gripped Hutch's arm and started to walk away with him but Starsky stood up and ran towards them. "No!" he cried out, "Don't take him, take me!"

"Too late, Detective!" Craig laughed.

"Take me… I'm a soldier… and so I am the kind of man you would like to break, right?" Starsky barked out, trying to push the right button and make Craig change his mind. He was ready to face those ghosts by facing them. He was ready to confront his nightmares if it could save his partner.

"A soldier…." Craig said and he stopped his man. "It changes things a little..." The button was now pushed.

Hutch understood immediately what Starsky was trying to do and he protested with eyes full of unshed tears. He knew what this decision might cost Starsky. Hutch wanted to spare his partner… he was resolute to go in his place.

Craig watched them and stated, "Well well well… this is the first time I've seen two men struggling to get what you're going to get!

"So I'll decide for you…. C'mon soldier…. Let's talk about good ol' times in 'Nam!"

Starsky was taken away; he looked broken but he still nodded a reassuring smile to his partner. Hutch could only watch him walking out and say "You're stronger than back then, pal…"

Hutch knew that his friend would have never let out a word: he didn't as a soldier, he had never done it as a cop and he would never do it as a friend.

* * *

Both men had lost their time perception since they had been kidnapped, but Hutch was sure that the time Starsky spent with those men lasted forever. He was still alone when he suddenly heard a huge explosion and a spray of gunfire. He heard an engine and people shouting outside. A gun was now shooting at the door of the warehouse and Hutch covered himself behind a wooden case, hoping it wasn't full of ammunition.

The door swung open and Hannibal came in. He ran towards Hutch and removed the ropes from his aching wrists.

"Colonel! It's you! My partner…"

"No worries, Detective. Face and BA are taking him out. He is alright… a little battered but he resisted… he has been a hell of a comrade in arms."

Hannibal gave Hutch a gun and they stepped out of the warehouse together. Starsky was there, holding on to BA to steady his stricken, bruised body.

Craig and his men were tied together and Hannibal told them, "As soon as Fulbright knows what you have done, you'll have a hard time facing justice. You are a shame to your uniforms and we still believe in the integrity of our army enough to know you'll pay for what you did to these men. You are fanatics that are lower than dirt in our military code."

"_Our_ military code, Smith?" Craig answered, "You have no code, you.."

"They are men of Honor," Starsky interrupted, "but you will never understand what it means, Craig."

"You're the man of honor, officer," Hannibal added.

* * *

Starsky and Hutch got into the Van with the A-Team and they went away together, leaving the tied men ready to receive the MP's.

Hannibal ordered BA to drive to the hospital, so the detectives could receive the medical assistance they needed.

"How did you know about us?" Hutch asked.

"Face noticed something strange yesterday, but we weren't sure," Hannibal answered, "But when Murdock told us that you didn't show up today, we decided to find out why Craig was in town…"

"Thank you," said Starsky.

Face watched him and answered, "Thanks to you. We have spent so much time thinking we could only count on each other… we had almost forgotten that we could trust someone else. Thank you for reminding us about it."

"I'm sorry for what happened in Hanoi… I know you are innocent and I wish we could do anything to…" Hutch added.

"You just did," Hannibal stated. "You have shown us that we still belong to this Nation."


	6. EPILOGUE

**Here is the Epilogue of my Story, which I have strongly believed in. The two worlds of these shows have finally met in a Crossover that has always existed in my heart and that, I hope, will now exist in the minds of the people who have read it.**  
**I wish the values represented by the main characters of these shows never went out of fashion, therefore my humble story is a little celebration of their virtues: compassion, dignity, generosity, loyalty, humanity and, above all, friendship.**

**I'm Italian, so English isn't my language... I have found the courage to write thanks to my facebook friends who have motivated and supported me.**

**Once again, THANK YOU Michele for editing, fixing, helping... and for being such a lovely friend! Without you this story would have never existed!**

**Many thanks to everybody who has read my small story and who has decided to leave a comment... I'll cherish all of them!**

* * *

Starsky parked the Torino by Hutch's home and both men got out of the car.

"Well, partner, you sure have something in common with BA. I mean…same taste about …stripes on the cars!"

"Ah... that was fun, pal!"

About a month had passed since they had been kidnapped and now ex Captain Craig was going to face a Court Martial for what he did. Murdock had been released from the hospital that very day but they had often paid visits in the last weeks… Actually Hutch was almost worried about the sync between the crazy man and his own partner, and he used to joke about them going to walk the dog together.

Hutch was almost grateful for the horrible experience they had had to endure because it seemed to have been cathartic for his friend, who finally seemed to have overcome his latent fears. After everything that had happened, he had realized that facing your ghosts gives you a chance to win against them.

Suddenly the partners heard tires screeching behind the house and an engine approaching. They were almost reaching for their guns when they suddenly recognized the A-Team's van round the corner.

They stopped and waited, worried about the fact that something bad could have happened since they last talked with the guys.

The four men got out of the van and Starsky and Hutch were astonished when they saw them in dress uniforms.

They were marching with Hannibal at the head of the formation.

They stopped in front of Starsky and stood at attention.

After a military salute, Hannibal took a medal from his own chest and offered it to Starsky.

"I am privileged to present the Medal of Honor to Lieutenant David Starsky for his value in action and for risking his own life in order to protect the unit he was working with and the men he considered to be his friends."

Starsky was speechless.

Then Hannibal turned to Hutch and shook his hand, "Detective Hutchinson, you have our everlasting gratitude and respect. You can count on us for anything. You would have made a valourous soldier."

Then the Team turned back and marched away.

Only Face hesitated for a moment and told Starsky, "You do deserve it. You always have."


End file.
